Madonne Bardini. Madonna Reliefs from the Second Half of the Florentine Quattrocento

From the end of the 1870s Stefano Bardini became the "Principe degli Antiquari" dominating the art market both in Italy and abroad. The Palazzo Bardini in Piazza de' Mozzi was visited by the most important collectors and museums directors in the world.
The celebrated pictures of the 'Wall of Madonnas' in stucco and terracotta are perhaps the most eloquent testimony of dominant role played by Bardini in the trade in Madonna reliefs, which starded growing from the 1840s onwards, with the flourishing of a strong Christian revival. Among his customers wereEdouard André et Nélie Jacquemart, Prince Johann II of Lichtenstein, Isabella Strewart Gardner

The series of Madonna reliefs owned by Stefano Bardini and now still housed in the Museum constists of over 80 pieces, which are classified in this catalogue, each of which is given a full historical and critical description